The Technology and Maintenance Council has announced that it will develop a test/verification app that will allow vehicle diagnostic adapter vendors to qualify that their VDAs are compliant with the TMC RP1210 standard.

A voluntary "right to repair" agreement was completed recently that will give vehicle owners and independent facilities access to OEM-controlled service information, tools and parts at a fair and reasonable price. OEMs have to lease or sell the same software available to their dealers or to anyone, including competitors.

The agreement requires OEMs to write their diagnostic software applications to the TMC RP1210 or SAE J2534 standards. Additionally, OEMs and Vehicle Diagnostic Adapter manufacturers can no longer employ proprietary features that would exclude VDA vendor devices built to the published standard.

A memorandum of understanding was reached by the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network, the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, the Equipment and Tool Institute, the Auto Care Association and Heavy Duty Aftermarket Canada that will go into full effect in 2018. The agreement will apply to diagnostics and service information for model year 2010 and later trucks and buses over 10,000 pounds sold in the U.S. and Canada.

The app development effort will be headed by the TMC’s S.12 Onboard Vehicle Electronics Study Group.

The S.12 study group will hold a session at TMC’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Exhibition on Wednesday, March 2 from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Registration is currently open for the American Trucking Associations' TMC 2016 Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition,  which will run from Feb. 29 – March 3 at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn.

For more information, click here.